More than a month past the deadline set by legislation passed last year, the US Department of Justice on Friday released over 3 million more pages of files related to convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, but one Democratic lawmaker who has led the push for the disclosure emphasized that the exact contents of the files must be determined to tell whether the release is simply another “cover-up.”
“What are we looking for? The FBI statements,” Khanna (D-Calif.) told MS NOW. “We need to see whether the 302 forms are being released. That’s where the survivors mention who the other rich and powerful men are who abused or raped them... and second, are the prosecution memos being released? This is the document that shows why these rich and powerful men weren’t prosecuted.
“If there’s no cover-up,” said the congressman, those files will be included.
Files that were released and circulated on social media on Friday afternoon included multiple descriptions of sexual assault in which President Donald Trump was named. Those did not appear to be official 302 forms from an FBI interview with victims, which typically contain the name of the agent who conducted the interview, the date, and other information.
The New York Times noted that “a significant number of uncorroborated tips” were included in the release.
Prem Thakker of Zeteosaid the descriptions of sexual assault allegations appeared to come from an FBI tip line and it was not clear whether they had ever been investigated.
Soon after the documents were released, journalists including CNN‘s Jake Tapper reported on social media that many of the links that had led to the files on the DOJ’s website were no longer active.
MS NOW senior legal reporter Lisa Rubin reported that some of the documents had revealed “the names and other identifying details of known survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. In at least one case, MS NOW found a driver’s license with an unredacted photo among the documents produced.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said the release did not appear to comply with an earlier subpoena from the committee, which directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all of the Epstein files while protecting survivors.
“Donald Trump and his Justice Department have now made clear that they intend to withhold roughly 50% of the Epstein files, while claiming to have fully complied with the law,” said Garcia. “This is outrageous and incredibly concerning.”
“We are demanding the names of Epstein’s co-conspirators and the men and pedophiles who abused women and girls,” he said. “We will begin a thorough review of this latest limited production, but let’s be clear: Our work and investigation are just getting started.”
Khanna called on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to meet with him and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to assess what files were released.
“If you are serious about engaging members, let us have this meeting,” he said.
The congressman told the Times that a draft indictment prepared during the 2007 investigation into Epstein in Florida and “hundreds of thousands of emails and files from Epstein’s computers” must also be released.
“Refusing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved,” said Khanna, “and hurts the public’s trust in our institutions.”